Strange, bad automation issue

[rbeggs]

Running 8.1cs2, HD4, 89 out of 192 voices, plenty of dormant DSP, dual quad Nehalem, D-Command.

This has happened in several sessions on different projects over the last year or so but is now becoming so frequent as to be intolerable.

A specific track and no others, will, without warning or apparent reason, fail to read automation in certain sections of the track. The errors seem to cluster in specific areas repeatedly but not consistently. Out of 10 plays an affected section may drop out 1-5 times or not at all. The result is a dialog line that is automated at +8 at the beginning and ends at -3 is played back at unity. The next 10 minutes of dialog may play correctly or even the entire reel. The level discrepancy is not limited to a single region but can cover multiple regions.

Some level changes are loud and obvious Others, on the order of 1-2 dB, are more insidious. Was that line too loud? Was that line softer than you remember? Confidence shattering is not an overstatement.

Has anybody else experienced this issue and if so, WTF is it?

Thanks for listening.

rbeggs

[DigiTechSupt]

What is your DSP/Voice allocation set to and, if you raise it, does the problem go away?

[rbeggs]

Thanks for the reply. I won't be in the studio till noon. I'll get back to you with the info then.

rbeggs

[DigiTechSupt]

Just to be clear - I mean increase the number of DSP per voice...

[rbeggs]

Got it.

[rbeggs]

Okay, here's what I've got in the trouble set up:

H/W Buffer 1024
15 processors
cpu 95%
192 voices, 6 DSP
Delay Comp, Long

DAE Playback Buffer, Level 2
Cache Size, Normal
Plug-In Streaming Buffer, Level 2

I'll try to get it to happen again with this set up. So far today it hasn't acted up. Once I confirm a malfunction I'll drop the voice count to 96 voices 6 DSP and see what happens.

[DigiTechSupt]

Richard -

If you have the time, could we get a session that exhibits the problem, along with info about your Playback Engine settings when it occurs and what you're doing at the time (dubbing back to the same system, same drive, different drive, etc)?

Of course any info you send us is completely confidential and will only be shared internally for testing purposes.

Thanks!

[SBP]

Could this be a plug in or trim automation lagging behind? -We've had some occasions where plugins are seconds late -then you roll back and play the same spot and everything is correct. For what ever reason we found having mxf files in the session made the issue more frequent.

Coalescing trims also seems to help.

Its a hard issue to pin down because there is always the thought that perhaps its the way it was mixed (even though you could swear thats not what you did) -its not until you can record to a stem and then compare you realize -sometimes (very infrequently) there are automation playback errors.

Anyway other than confirming that we experience this as well -not much help.

All the best

Bruno

[Matt82au]

I can confirm I have had a similar issue running an LE system. V8. Buffer sizes set between 512 - 1024.

[ggegan]

I have had somewhat similar issues in the past that were either a result of corrupted templates or buggy plugins. To solve a corrupted template issue, I rebuild an identical session template from scratch and then import the tracks from the problem session into the new template. Buggy plugins are a bit harder to run down, but basic troubleshooting logic using the process of elimination, although time consuming, works well. Another possible cause could be too many layers of VCA or trim automation. Offsets on top of offsets, on top of offsets can result in unpredictable volume automation behavior. In general, simplicity works best. Try coalescing all VCAs and trims to see if that helps.

I find it amusing that DigiTechSupt is so discerning about whom they decide to respond to on a timely basis. Many much more vexing issues are routinely ignored. I wonder if they would have been so accomodating had the post been submitted using a pseudonym? No disrespect to Richard. Success has it's rewards, as it should. I'm just sayin'...